Tag Archives: Dublin

When I was a student I was good at doing this. Large quantities of beer were the norm, and recovery time was minimal. Nowadays a great evening out takes about 2 weeks to recover…

I guess the best way not to suffer is to stick to one particular drink, and in Dublin that can only mean one thing, and try to drink slowly over a long period of time. Perhaps I didn’t quite achieve that (drinking slowly…) but at least I stuck to the black stuff, and mighty delicious it was too…

The other way to forget that you can’t quite be a student anymore, is to surround yourself with your student pals and just relive the old days. And that’s what we did, to great effect. Enjoying the craic! Inside I still feel like I’m in my younger 20s anyway…

And at no stage did I give up the ghost, put my head in my hands and drown all my sorrows. This pic isn’t me!

When I was about 14 I trekked up to Newcastle Uni with a bunch of mates to see Thin Lizzy. Got my Dad to drive us up. The band, being a hardened, boozy, tough-guy rock ‘n roll outfit, didn’t come on stage until midnight. By which time we needed to head back home (….@*!?@?…)

Jody Cahill from The Crooked Jacks

All this came bubbling up because I’ve been in Dublin for a week, and Phil Lynott, bless his bass playing soul, is all over the place. Statues, photos, memorabilia. Actually the whole city seems dedicated to its rock stars – U2, Van M, Shane MacGowan etc. They’re everywhere. It’s a music city!

Live at the Temple Bar Inn

So it was great to see some trad Irish music at the Temple Bar Inn, and sink a few pints of the black stuff. Tourist bar it may be, but hey, once work was done, I was in tourist mood.

4 piece band – it’s all you need.

Bit cramped, but they’re young and can cope

The music was provided by The Crooked Jacks, and very good they were too. And I loved the Temple Bar (500 whiskies to try out… and that’s on top of the Guinness).

Banjo twang

Thin Lizzy may have to remain a distant dream for me, but I got my fill of Irish music (and Guinness), managed to see the whole set and get back to my hotel room for a good night’s kip. Beats trekking up to Newcastle!